United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2026 (March 3 Democratic primary)
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| U.S. Senate, North Carolina |
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| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: December 19, 2025 |
| Primary: March 3, 2026 Primary runoff: May 12, 2026 General: November 3, 2026 |
| How to vote |
| Poll times:
6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. |
| Race ratings |
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Toss-up Sabato's Crystal Ball: Toss-up |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026 |
| See also |
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th North Carolina elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 |
A Democratic Party primary takes place on March 3, 2026, in North Carolina to determine which Democratic candidate will run in the state's general election on November 3, 2026.
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
Heading into the election, the incumbent is Thom Tillis (Republican), who was first elected in 2014.
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. North Carolina utilizes a semi-closed primary system. Parties decide who may vote in their respective primaries. Voters may choose a primary ballot without impacting their unaffiliated status.[1]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
This page focuses on North Carolina's United States Senate Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the state's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2026 (March 3 Republican primary)
- United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2026
Candidates and election results
Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:
- Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
- Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate North Carolina
Roy Cooper, Justin Dues, and Orrick Quick are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate North Carolina on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Roy Cooper | |
 | Justin Dues | |
| Orrick Quick | ||
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Wiley Nickel (D)
Candidate profiles
There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here. You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:
Voting information
- See also: Voting in North Carolina
Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.
Campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roy Cooper | Democratic Party | $10,924,824 | $2,366,369 | $8,558,455 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Justin Dues | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Orrick Quick | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
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Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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Ballot access
The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in North Carolina in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in North Carolina, click here.
| Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2026 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Office | Party | Signatures required | Filing fee | Filing deadline | Source |
| North Carolina | U.S. Senate | Ballot-qualified party | 10,000 | $1,740.00 | 12/19/2025 | Source |
| North Carolina | U.S. Senate | Unaffiliated | 1.5% of all registered N.C. voters who voted in the most recent election for N.C. Governor | $1,740.00 | 12/19/2025 | Source |
See also
- United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2026 (March 3 Republican primary)
- United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2026
- United States Senate Democratic Party primaries, 2026
- United States Senate Republican Party primaries, 2026
- United States Senate elections, 2026
- U.S. Senate battlegrounds, 2026
External links
Footnotes
